An interesting segment in the film is how Amrutha (Samantha), lurking as a spirit in a beachside resort, chooses to reveal herself to mentalist Rudra (Nagarjuna). It happens in an aesthetically decorated hall with many tiny lamps, a stark white wall and a canvas, paint brushes and a riot of colours. Aesthetics is the driving factor of this horror comedy.
Like Amrutha’s arresting painting with eyes welled up with tears, not yet trickling down her cheeks, this film has a designer touch befitting its star actors. The first edition was a raw offering made on shoestring budget. This one comes with a good background score (Thaman), art direction (A S Prakash), cinematography (Diwakaran) and the visual effects aren’t jarring. But behind this sheen, the film is wanting in terms of depth and intrigue of the plot.
- Cast : Nagarjuna, Samantha, Seerat Kapoor
- Direction : Ohmkar
- Storyline : A mentalist unravels the mystery behind a spirit lurking in a beach-side resort
In the 127-minute film, things look up only when the three resort owners — Vennela Kishore, Praveen and Ashwin Babu — discover paranormal activities at the premises. The supposedly spooky bits aren’t really spooky. Seerat Kapoor’s look is far from mysterious, all those curtains swaying and vanishing footprints on the floor and glass just don’t send a chill down our spines. The jokes between the resort trio and others who appear in brief parts like Vidyu Raman and Shakalaka Shankar bring a few laughs but they aren’t crackling. Praveen and Vennela Kishore try their best but cannot salvage underwhelming writing.
Ohmkar takes the basic plot of the Malayalam film Pretham and gives it his own spin. With a star-actor like Nagarjuna playing a mentalist, screen time is devoted intermittently to acknowledge his effortlessly stylish persona. Mercifully, there are no stunts or an introduction song for him. But you get those languid, indulgent shots of Nagarjuna on his high-end bike.
Nag’s character of mentalist Rudra begins well, showing how he factors in the spiritual quotient though he works on scientific principles. When he solves a murder mystery of an elderly woman, you understand his working methods. But the problem solving is all too easy, primarily because it shows that the cops haven’t done enough probing. Perhaps it’s the director telling us not to expect something really intriguing with the rest of the film as well.
Rudra finds the answers to three questions raised by Amrutha — who, why and what did they gain — without any hindrance. Again it’s laughable that the police investigation — there’s a passing mention of it — was superficial. Nagarjuna breezes through his part and Samantha makes us empathise with her character. These two actors keep us invested in the film. Among the film’s pluses is the ever dependable Rao Ramesh in a brief role.
Towards the end, pertinent points are raised about gender, the power and importance of forgiveness, but we wish all these were backed by a stronger plot.
